Prayers, prejudice and purple shirts
by SunriseSerenity
Summary: Post-Reichenbach, pre-slash. Sherlock returns to find John has found religion & a certain Miss Morstan at a local church. 10 x 221Bs, now COMPLETE. Some irreverence, mainly from Sherlock, but not blasphemous, unless your definition differs from mine.
1. Gratitude

**Author's note: It goes without saying but I have no ownership over the characters from Sherlock. This is just a grateful homage.**

The small, white candle flickered alongside its friends as John settled back in the familiar pew. The quiet chapel which had seen his detachment and sorrow still appeared peaceful but John's mind was filled with a new kind of restlessness. _He_ had returned – just hours before, Sherlock had dropped his disguise and burst back to life, and John's mind was blown.

He had yelled, and hugged, and overflowed with questions which Sherlock had started to answer. Two mugs of tea later, and reassured that Sherlock wasn't going anywhere, John had decided he needed some air; needed some space to process some of the jangling thoughts in his weary head. Walking gently round the block he had come to the local church building which had offered refuge on several occasions over the past months. Finding the door unlocked, John had slipped inside and entered the small side chapel with the display of votive candles.

He remembered the unspoken prayers he had offered, not knowing who might be listening. Reverend Wiggins had been welcoming but not pushy, and John had come to value the concern in his eyes. Perhaps he should be thanking him: John felt gratitude which needed to be expressed. Maybe it was the unseen deity who deserved the praise. John was uncertain, but Sherlock was back, and somehow he believed.


	2. Resurrection

"Unremarkable architecture, draughty aisles and hard seating," Sherlock pronounced. "Why on earth would you want to go there?"

John didn't answer, concentrating on putting away the groceries he had collected on his way back to 221B. Sherlock noted his set jaw and almost imperceptible sigh but ploughed on. "Is this your new crutch?" he demanded. "Platitudes and ritual based on fairy-tales from first century Palestine?"

"Some people just don't stay dead" John countered, wondering quite how many theories had circulated about the resurrection.

"Joseph of Arimathea was definitely in on it" Sherlock mused irreverently, "although I doubt he had Molly's resources."

John smiled in spite of himself, before trying to make his feelings clear. "I don't expect you to have any comprehension of how these last months have been for me, Sherlock", he began. "But I'll thank you not to rubbish any source of hope or comfort I have found. There are a lot of good people at St Toby's, as several of your homeless friends will testify."

Sherlock recalled the shelter which frequently housed some of his most reliable informants, who had indeed spoken highly of Reverend Wiggins and his team. That didn't mean they'd all started attending communion. "So I suppose you'll be up early for Eucharist?" he enquired pointedly.

Fighting predictability, John nodded. How dull could it be?


	3. Communion

The early service at St Toby's was not well attended but John was surprised how easily he joined in the spoken responses and traditional hymns. One thing about Anglican services, whether you were in Hampstead or Helmand the words were pretty much the same. Reverend Wiggins' sermon about new beginnings had been concise but surprisingly accessible. Afterwards John had gone to shake the minister's hand and agreed when the clergyman commented how much brighter he seemed.

"Yes" started John, struggling to know what else to say. "Somehow I've got a new chance and I want to make the most of it" he tried, and the minister beamed encouragingly. John left the building smiling, and headed for the nearby pub where he had agreed to meet Sherlock for lunch. Their Sunday roast had an excellent reputation, and Sherlock was already perusing the menu with a pint of local ale. John bought a glass for himself before agreeing that the lamb sounded ideal and ordering two servings.

"So how is the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world?" asked Sherlock, and John sighed.

"He has mercy on you, anyway," John replied, "even though you choose to mock him and me and abandon me thinking you are dead". He looked at his glass. "It's a good thing I'm not bitter."


	4. Sustenance

Sherlock felt relieved as they settled back into their old routine and started consulting on cases for Scotland Yard again. He didn't quite feel forgiven, but he knew that John was pleased to have him back. John's grief at Sherlock's apparent death had been overwhelming, even from a distance, and Sherlock was glad that some new friends had supported him. John's continued association with friends at St Toby's now Sherlock was back was an unexpected development, but he clearly had medical skills which were greatly appreciated at the shelter.

There was something more, though. John was finding sustenance of some kind from these people along the same lines as he had craved from Sherlock in their early friendship. For a while, danger and fighting crime with Sherlock had been what kept John alive. Now he seemed to be finding meaning and purpose somewhere else, and Sherlock was puzzled at just how jealous he felt.

When John returned from a meeting about a new project at the shelter, Sherlock gritted his teeth as his flatmate praised the contribution of a new volunteer named Mary. "She's got contacts in one of the local supermarkets and they want to donate their leftover food to St Toby's," John explained. Sherlock rolled his eyes as John enthused how this much needed resource was a real blessing.


	5. Chatting

As they shared out the provisions into family sized food parcels, John chatted easily with the new volunteer. "Sherlock's been trying to figure out who's behind these attacks on local elderly residents" he said, describing the cases which had caused Lestrade to request the detective's assistance. Mary seemed fascinated to hear of some of their previous exploits, promising to look up John's blog as soon as she got home.

"Have you two been together long?" she asked casually, and John recalled their meeting just over two years ago before realising the deeper question he was being asked.

"Oh, we're just colleagues, flatmates, friends…" he blushed, flustering over his words. "Although people often mistook our relationship for something more" he admitted. "It was embarrassing."

"There's no need to be embarrassed" Mary smiled; "he clearly means a lot to you and he sounds like a remarkable man."

That's one word for him, John thought, inwardly cringing at the likely swift character assassination that would ensue should she ever meet his famous flatmate.

"I'd love to meet him" Mary continued, just as John was concluding this was the last thing he wanted. "Does he ever come to St Toby's?"

John pictured Sherlock sitting through a service, pointing out inconsistencies and irrelevancies and generally being his insufferable self. "No" he replied, "he's usually rather busy".


	6. Plotting

John's growing attachment to Mary and others at St Toby's had progressed from being a minor inconvenience to a serious concern. Sherlock was beginning to feel himself being replaced in John's affections and found he didn't like it at all. He rationalised his unease by focusing on the unsuitability of a group of narrow minded, deluded do-gooders as companions for his friend, and set his powerful mind the task of simultaneously discrediting them while re-establishing his own primary role in John's life.

Ruling out seven of the first eight ideas which came to mind, Sherlock decided the remaining possibility had merit. He surprised John the following Sunday by rising early and making an uncharacteristic effort to get dressed, including wearing John's favourite purple shirt. John still considered it secretly rather inappropriate that he considered one of Sherlock's shirts his favourite, but Sherlock's request to join him for morning worship confused him much more. He couldn't say no.

Being introduced to some of John's new friends, Sherlock almost felt sorry for them. On the surface they seemed pleasant enough, modestly dressed and demonstrating some genuine commitment to fair-trade clothing and occupations which served the community. It's a shame you're so homophobic, Sherlock thought, as he put his arm round John and prepared for the storm as he introduced himself as John's boyfriend.


	7. Amazing

Looking back, John found it difficult to tell who was the most shocked. Gobsmacked, he had stood in silence as his friends had conveyed both the novelty of this news and their delight and joy in meeting his 'other half'. Though he continued to play the role of the slightly awkward partner meeting a collection of new people, Sherlock's bafflement at the acceptance and welcome he received was evident to John alone, since only he knew him well enough to detect something of his true reaction. As Sherlock struggled to reconcile the idea of Christians who weren't fazed by gay couples, John was trying to figure out just what his clearly certifiable flatmate was playing at.

Reverend Wiggins preached on the rather relevant passage about not judging others lest ye be judged, and John steeled himself to stay calm and pray that Sherlock might hear something from God. It seemed unlikely that he would choose to repeat his strange church-going experiment, even if the results had confounded his hypothesis. While Sherlock was bound to have some convoluted motivation for his actions, John's actions in going along with it puzzled him further. The closing hymn, Amazing Grace, seemed particularly appropriate and John felt more than a usual stirring of emotion as he heard the unexpected joining in of a familiar, warm baritone.


	8. Repercussions

Their sweet companionship quickly faded once they entered the flat and John demanded an explanation, accusing Sherlock of heartless manipulation, shameless experimenting on people he'd never met and total disregard for John's feelings or friendships. Sherlock swung between sulky silence and complex rationalisations, becoming more manic but also clearly distressed. He had got something very wrong, he had upset John and he felt guilty for his false assumptions about John's new friends. Most unsettling of all, he found he had inadvertently ventured into an intimacy with John which for an hour or so had felt strangely, unfathomably right.

That seemed a long time ago now, and John was busy explaining how many Christians are far more open-minded in the way they interpret the Bible regarding matters of sexuality. He seemed disappointed that a man as quick to dismiss media generalisations and stereotypes as Sherlock should think that every Christian would espouse the same bigoted, homophobic attitudes as were voiced by the admittedly noisy conservative minority.

Sherlock was getting better at apologising, and he did so unreservedly. Keeping John's friendship was more important than his dignity, and he wondered how far he should go trying to explain the feelings he was struggling to understand himself. The realisation that he wanted John for himself seemed inseparable from the fact that John deserved better.


	9. Forgiveness

John knew that he should forgive his flatmate, even though Sherlock had probably exceeded the seventy times seven that Christ had stipulated. The question remained how to bring his friends at St Toby's to a correct understanding of their relationship while pushing Sherlock to take some responsibility for making things right.

"We could say I was researching attitudes to gay couples for a case?" Sherlock suggested, "or you could say that I'm obsessed with you and want to be your boyfriend?"

"What about trying the truth?" asked John, and Sherlock resisted the urge to identify his last statement as being much truer than John realised. "You could tell them that you were worried that church friendships were taking me away from you, and that you tried to sabotage this by revealing their non-existent prejudicial attitudes."

Sherlock couldn't help but be impressed at his flatmate's deductions, even though he flinched at the way John set out his shortcomings.

"Do you really want me to say that?" he asked hesitantly. "It makes me sound so needy and pathetic".

"And would that be wildly inaccurate?" John challenged, and was satisfied when Sherlock looked sheepish but did not deny it. "We'll tell them it was for a case" he concluded, "but you'll owe me". Sherlock wasn't quite sure what that implied, but he conceded briskly.


	10. Celebration

Mary had been one of the few people who missed Sherlock's debut at St Toby's, but she heard all about it afterwards. "He sounds like an absolute nightmare" she chuckled, and John nodded, although he never used the term so casually.

"I doubt he'll be joining the electoral roll" he considered, "but I might get him here on special occasions".

One such occasion came up a few weeks later as Reverend Wiggins and the shelter team were to be presented with an award by the Right Reverend Athelney Jones. Sherlock swore to be on his best behaviour, and John was secretly pleased to see the purple shirt making a further appearance. Arriving early for the evening presentation service, John settled Sherlock in a pew and then went to fetch them both a cup of tea. Mary was serving hot drinks from the hatch at the back and she chatted with John as she poured their teas.

"I'll introduce you to Sherlock properly later" he offered, and she was delighted. John had extracted a solemn promise that Sherlock would keep his deductions regarding Miss Morstan to himself.

"Where are you sitting?" Mary asked, and John gestured in the right direction.

"He's the…" John bit back 'good looking' and settled for "tall one in the purple shirt". Mary looked confused.

"That's the bishop!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

So that's the end of this story, but I might write a sequel some time soon. Thanks to my lone ranger reviewer and everyone who's put the story on alert. Please do review and tell me what you liked or didn't like. I've enabled anonymous reviews in case that helps. Peace be with you x (and that's a holy kiss just in case you were concerned. This is a K+ story after all!)


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